Few questions before installing Debian...

[Gaspacho]

I decided to switch from Fedora to Debain (im not friend with youm, but I liked the apt-get in Ubuntu). I have few questions about this (please be patient I got still the hell made demon Bill in my head, and I want to become totally linux, im newbie):

1. Could anyone point me to some really good tested step by step thread or post how to install debian. I have chosen to install unstable version. Should I install woody first and then upgrade to unstable?
2. I have Fedora on my disk and I would like to remove it and to install Debian on clear disk, how should I format the disk? How should I partition the disk?
3. I got HP nc6120 notebook and I read somewhere around here that few guys had problem with their graphic cards. I have intel graphic (900 i think, 128 mb), is this card supported?
4. I want to install from minimal CD, I have permanent connection to internet via LAN, so I guess I will have to enable dhcp to Debian to get its files?
5. I have limited data per week / 1024MB. I have 0 MB so far so will 1 GB be enough to install Debian. I dont mind installing some packages later I just need to install - Debian, GNOME, open-office, drivers etc. Has anyone info about how much data Debian installation take?

Thats pretty much it so far, I would be grateful if anyone would be able to help me with some of these questions. Thank you guys!

[Vergil83]

1) Don't try unstable if you are new. Also woody is the old stable. I would try etch (the new stable soon). For an install guide, you may look at http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/
2) When you install debian it will allow you to format the disc
4) In that case I would use the netinstall or the business card cd http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/
5) That may be tricky. I have a debian etch install with gnome and openoffice. Minus some other stuff I think it is in the 1.3 gb range (that is installed, not downloaded). I think you can, since ubuntu can do it.

[Gaspacho]

Hmmm allraight, what about if I install it just with the prompt, and then I would wait till it goes back to 0 (the limit), and install gnome afterwards? Will that work? I read somewhere that DE can take few gigabytes? Is that true?

One more question: If I want to read some webpage during installation I should use some LiveCD am I right? Lets say that I have Knoppix live, so I just boot from it and what then? can I take the CD out of the CD_rom and put in the Debian to install it? Does knoppix put itself into RAM? How do I switch between installation and reading internet?

Thx for replay anyway, really appritiate it!

[Vergil83]

Yea you can do that. I have a feeling that gnome and debian is going to be smaller than 1 gb. I don't know if you can include openoffice though. Yes, you can always download other stuff later.

Well how debian installs it does your disk partitions and stuff first from the cd. This only takes a few minutes. Then it reboots, and starts debian from the harddrive. Then you install your programs. This, depending on the speed of your computer/connection, could take a like 1 hour. I am sure there is some way you could manage to be installing and doing regular stuff at the same time, but I am sure it would be a lot of effort.

[Gaspacho]

Hmmmm isnt Etch the testing version? I browsed the Debian page and the stable version was called Sarge. Or am I wrong? One more thing, how long does the installation prcess take? I got 10 MBit connection via LAN so the downloading isnt problem. Thx!

[Vergil83]

sarge is the current stable, but etch is going to be stable soon (hopefully with in month). Etch has better hardware support and an improved installer.

The install time depends on your computer too (a 2 Ghz will install faster than a 500 mhz).

[Gaspacho]

Heeeey thx for hepl appritiate that! Hmmm allright I think Ill wait for that new stable version, and install it later. I hope that improved installation doestn mean the graphical installation (tried the gentoo one but felt like in jungle - bugs all around). Thank you once more!